Back in 1979, the Democratic House Speaker, Tip O’Neill, handed the unhappy job of lining up votes for a debt-ceiling raise to Representative Richard Gephardt, then a young Democratic congressman from Missouri. Gephardt hated this, and, realizing he’d probably get stuck with it again, consulted the parliamentarian about whether the two votes could be combined. The parliamentarian said they could. Thereafter, whenever the House passed a budget resolution, the debt ceiling was “deemed” raised.

The “Gephardt Rule,” as it became known, lasted until 1995, when the new House Speaker, Newt Gingrich, fresh from the Republican triumph of the 1994 midterms, recognized the same thing that Tea Party Republicans recognize today: The threat of default could be used to extort Democratic concessions. Gingrich abolished the Gephardt Rule, and within the year the government had shut down.

Polls are showing that the Republicans are being blamed by most Americans for the trouble arising from the gov't shutdown, so I certainly hope the voters remember to blame the GOP in kind for the trouble they're causing, by voting in a year to get the extremists out!

POLL --> By a margin of 72-22 percent, the Quinnipiac University poll found the public not wanting a government shutdown, and by 64-27 percent opposed to holding up an increase in the debt ceiling as a political cudgel to block Obamacare.
Democrats have moved out to a nine point, 43-34 percent, lead in a “generic” ballot of which party’s candidates for Congress voters are inclined to support. http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlepolitics/2013/10/01/dont-hold-hostage-budget-debt-ceiling-survey/

Those who've lacked the money to take care of their teeth, and had to worry what others thought of them for having bad or missing teeth (or lost out on jobs) already know what having bad teeth can do to your quality of life.
That's not even including the pain stemming from poor dental health, but now, multiple studies are linking bad teeth and oral health problems to even more diseases beyond heart disease.

There must be a bigger push within our gov't to get more money from the trillions of dollars in the budget to help stop preventable deaths, because as it stands, it seems in regards to adults, the Affordable Care Act has no teeth.

British scientists report finding signs of gum-disease bacteria in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients. The new study adds to a rapidly growing body of evidence strongly linking periodontal (gum) disease to greatly increased risk for the memory-robbing disorder.

Yiping Han, a professor of periodontics, and her lab have been studying the health effects of the bacterium, called Fusobacterium nucleatum, for about a decade, and have already connected it to preterm birth, stillbirth, and post-birth sepsis.

Their newest research, published online today in the journal Cell Host & Microbe, explains how the bacterium may turn on tumor growth in the colon, and also identifies a way to prevent its action. The researchers also hope their work will lead to a diagnostic tool that will help identify those at risk of colon cancer earlier in the disease’s progression.

As the latest research deepens scientists' understanding of the link between dental health and disease, the potential implications are coming into focus. Something as simple as treating gum disease, a neglected, often painless condition, could limit damage from some of the world's most widespread and costly illnesses.

These rancid hacks just took a few days to show us all why the majority did the right thing in telling these immensely partisan, grumpy, divisive, mean-spirited political losers - "no fucking thanks!"

The foul partisan message that rMoney is putting out there, in his first comments about his crushing defeat by Obama, saying "gifts" to poor and working class voters are the reason for his loss are not just laughable, they're the problem with the GOP! They think the government is only supposed to benefit the wealthy who have contracts or are working on getting into the game. That's all it is to them. They don't care who they hurt along the way.

Mitt doesn't care about his nasty rhetoric running down half the nation behind closed doors, or saying he would get rid of FEMA, or his embarrassing, 'corporations are people' idiocy. The man insulted women by backing anti-rights "legitimate rape" candidates and policies, and even made one of those who backed the shameful "personhood" bill, along with Todd Akin, as his running mate. This running mate of his even said in the final days of the election that President Obama is destroying America's 'Judeo-Christian values'! Mitt knows exactly what he is saying, it's what's in his heart, and you can't change ugly!

And as for McGrumpy, oh my God, where is his caregiver, and why isn't he being given his medicine? Who lets him run around like this being all crotchety and angry? Can you imagine this man's angry red hands in charge of the nuclear launch buttons?

FREEPORT, Ill. — Workers facing outsourcing at the Sensata Technologies plant in Freeport, Ill., plan to walk off the job at 6 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 25, in protest of what they termed “repeated threats against and harassment of employees by Sensata management.”

The walkout comes on the heels of 14 arrests during a march on the plant yesterday, Oct. 24, during which the Rev. Jesse Jackson and three workers were arrested.

The 14 arrests Oct. 24 bring to 23 the total number of arrests since workers began protesting the outsourcing of their jobs.

Workers also filed two unfair labor practice charges against the company with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Oct. 24 for cracking down on protected concerted activity and threatening to close the plant early if workers continued to protest.